Some have pointed a finger at Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.), since he co-sponsored and pushed for a standalone bill with the identical language. But a spokesman for Mr. Himes said his boss doesn’t know how the provision got into the spending bill. “We found out about it when we saw the draft of the bill Tuesday night,” the spokesman said. Read More »

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California may run the minority party in the House, but the current maneuvering over a must-pass spending bill could serve as an example of how she still holds some power.

The Republican-controlled House faces a Dec. 11 deadline to pass a spending bill or risk a repeat of the government shutdown that occurred last year. To pass the measure, GOP leaders may need some Democratic votes, partly because a bloc of conservative Republicans is unhappy that the spending bill does not do enough to stop President Barack Obama from shielding millions of illegal immigrants from deportations.

Democrats have said their support depends on the contents of the spending measure, which is expected to be released next week. That gives Mrs. Pelosi some leverage, but at a news briefing Friday she did not show her cards as to how, if at all, she plans to wield it. Read More »

House Republicans will include additional funding in their short-term spending bill to help address the outbreak of Ebola in Africa, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) told reporters Monday.

Mr. Rogers said he expected the House to vote this week on the stopgap measure to keep the government running beyond the end of the month. The legislation could be released as soon as Tuesday and will not include any new controversial policy measures, he said. Read More »

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) clearly isn’t happy with the EPA move this week to expand the reach of its clean-water rules to include small streams and wetlands, including those that dry up in the summer.

At a Thursday hearing with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Mr. Rogers suggested the EPA wasn’t likely to see any money anytime soon to support the new water protection regulations issued on Tuesday by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Expanding the number of water bodies covered by the EPA is important in Kentucky, where coal mining is a major industry and runoff from surface mines is a major environmental issue. Read More »

Conceding that negotiations on a broad government spending bill are unlikely to finish in time to meet a Wednesday deadline, House Republican leaders introduced a stopgap funding bill Friday to keep the government funded through Saturday Jan. 18, and allow more time for talks to wrap up.

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) said he expected negotiations on the broader funding bill to wrap up Sunday or Monday. Read More »

House Republicans might use the budget stalemate as a chance to take another shot at an agency that is out of favor with the party: the Internal Revenue Service.

On Tuesday, House Republican leaders rolled out a scattershot plan to bring up spending bills piece by piece, starting with measures to fund the Veteran Affairs Department, national parks, and D.C. schools. Read More »

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, known as the “Prince of Pork” before the House banned earmarks, has helped funnel more than $236 million since 2000 to a network of nonprofits he helped create back in his home state of Kentucky, according to a new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning watchdog group.

Rep. Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

CREW said most of that money, $173 million, came from earmarks – a type of funding for district projects that the Kentucky Republican and the new GOP majority have disavowed. Another $62 million came from federal grants, some of which Mr. Rogers personal backed, it said.

The chairman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Rogers has helped start seven nonprofit groups in the Bluegrass State, including several economic development groups and the National Institute for Hometown Security, an infrastructure protection research organization.

CREW, which has also targeted former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell and lawmakers who sleep in their offices, said that Mr. Rogers shows a willingness to intervene on his friends’ behalf when they deal with federal agencies. Read More »

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner, in his first press release of the new year, praises – what else? – an effort to cut spending.

Speaker-designate John Boehner (R., Ohio) .(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

In the release issued Tuesday, Mr. Boehner points out that the House will be considering a resolution Thursday to cut $35 million from the cost of running the chamber. Both the news release and the resolution are largely symbolic. The $35 million — $10 million more than originally Republican leaders originally considered – accounts for a tiny fraction of a federal budget that exceeds $3 trillion.

But Republicans are saying that you’ve got to start somewhere.

At the House Appropriations Committee, incoming Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky) said he plans to cut the committee’s annual operating budget by 9% from last year’s level – above the 5% across-the-board cut Republican leaders are proposing.

Mr. Rogers, once dubbed the “Prince of Pork” by a home state newspaper, said in a statement that he was taking the step to emphasize his commitment “to slashing spending, reducing our national deficit, and getting our economy on track… This year, the Appropriations Committee will be ground zero for a wide range of reductions across the federal government, and by cutting our own budget first, we are showing we’re willing to lead by example.” Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.